The Art of Be-ing has always eluded me. I would hear people talk about how important it is to just sit and be, and I would try it, but I always needed to be doing something or planning something or reading something. I found any method I could to avoid just being in the moment.

Recently, however, I have done a lot of work around my base chakra and my support in life, and I have found that being is coming much more easily.

The base, or root, chakra, is located in front of the base of the spine, between the legs. It roots us to the earth, our foundation. It is where we nurture the quality of being, because the base chakra lives in the present moment, in the timeless now.

Think of the giant boulders at Stonehenge and how they sit there through the centuries, watching people rush around in their dramas. The boulders sit and be. We can learn a lot from them.

I learned a lot about be-ing from my friend the bunny who came to live in our garden one winter. He ate in the neighbor’s garden next door where she put out food for the rooster, and then he came into my garden to eat flowers for dessert. Afterwards he would sit on our back patio, sometimes in the sun and sometimes in the shade. Occasionally he’d sleep, but often he would just be. I would sit next to him and give him bunny massage and ear reflexology, (after which he’d clean his ears thoroughly), and then we’d just sit together. Nothing was needed from each other. We were just be-ing.

My friend the bunny has gone off to live elsewhere, and my garden is much happier for it, but I value the lesson he taught me of being-ness. I now go and sit outside and look. I just be. I see my garden. Instead of seeing all the work that needs doing, I see all the flowers blooming and the plants growing and the birds fluttering. I feel the energy of all that living going on in the garden and I be with it. I go with the flow. That urgency to do is being replaced with a willingness to be.

Not always of course. There needs to be a balance between doing and being. I mainly do. But now I also be.

If you are looking for ways to add being to your life (and I heartily recommend that you do), I have a few suggestions for you. First, know that just because you’re sitting doesn’t mean that you are being. Watching TV, reading, driving and eating do not count as being.

Being is just sitting. Maybe looking out the window. Maybe gazing at a candle or a favorite picture. Maybe listening to favorite music. The mind drifts—there is no planning or dialogue going on in the head—just an awareness of the moment, and of being in the moment. Often a feeling of gratitude will steal over you as you realize how good it feels to be just sitting and being in the moment.

In our busy lives, the best gift we can give ourselves is the gift of being truly present in the moment and appreciating it. It nourishes our souls and our base chakras, it gives us a firmer connection with ourselves and with our lives.

Blessed be.